BISHOP, GRIMM ANNOUNCE BIPARTISAN BILL TO FIGHT OUTSOURCING OF CALL CENTER JOBS TOPS 100 COSPONSORS
WASHINGTON -- Congressman Tim Bishop announced that his bipartisan bill to bar American companies that outsource call center jobs from receiving federal grants and loans has topped 100 cosponsors, an important milestone in the effort to compel a hearing on the legislation in the Committee on Energy and Commerce.Bishop's bill, the U.S. Call Center and Consumer Protection Act (HR 3596), has gained 106 co-sponsors including Congressman Michael Grimm (R-Staten Island). The legislation continues to gain momentum in the House as identity theft and sale of customers' personal information by call center employees in India and the Philippines have been exposed in stunning new reports by the British and Australian media.
Australian TV Newsmagazine Today Tonight reports that an employee at a call center operated in the Philippines for Australian phone company Telstra offered to reduce a customers' $557 (AUS) mobile phone bill to $99 (AUS) in exchange for a $60 (AUS) bribe.
The U.S. Call Center and Consumer Protectio